Ryan and Bush continued to talk Wednesday about Ryan’s comments from before the first Dolphins-Jets matchup in Week 3, in which Ryan said he ordered his defense to put some “hot sauce” on Bush, which usually means to hit a player harder than usual, or after the whistle.

Bush hurt his knee in that 23-20 loss to the Jets and has been hobbled for the Dolphins’ three games since. After the game, Jets linebacker Calvin Pace said of Bush, “We had to put him on out.”

Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis also suffered a season-ending knee injury in that game, and Bush didn’t show any sympathy, saying “what goes around comes around” after they talked about hurting Bush.

Wednesday in New York, Ryan said he expects an apology from Bush.

"Shoot ... I apologized for my comments," Ryan said at a news conference. "I expect him to do the same."

But Bush didn’t apologize Wednesday, and said he’s not afraid of any retaliation from the Jets this Sunday in New York.

“Retaliation? They’re the ones that started it,” Bush said. “If there were any retaliation, it would come from us. But you know what? The character of guys we have on this team are guys that play with respect for the game.”

In a conference call with South Florida media, Ryan clarified that “I don’t want an apology” from Bush and maintained that Bush misinterpreted Ryan’s original “hot sauce” comment. Ryan said all he meant was that the Jets would have to pay special attention to Bush, who was coming off a 172-yard rushing performance against the Raiders.

“You have to know where he is and all that kind of stuff. That’s what I meant,” Ryan said. “I understand where Reggie’s coming from. He was injured and that’s not good. It’s obviously not good for him and it’s not good for the league. My comments, I certainly didn’t mean that. I never want to hurt a player in this league. I’ve got a great deal of admiration for all the players that play in this league.

“But when he made the comments about Revis -- obviously a guy that’s lost for the season who is one of the guys that’s great for this league, one of the elite players in this league. It’s not good for anybody in the league to have him out.”

Bush said he’s not buying Ryan’s “hot sauce” explanation.

“I don’t believe that at all, but it is what it is,” Bush said. “The great thing about divisional opponents is you get to play them twice.”